that's the voter-approved measure four years ago that stopped gay marriage in california. now, a federal appeals court overturned the ban and did so on a basis that was rather narrow and applied only to california. if the supreme court takes that case, then at the very least, it will decide what's going to become of gay marriage in california, but there's also the chance that the justices, if they take that case, could get to the more fundamental issue, which is can any state refuse to allow same-sex couples to get married? would that violate the constitution? and of course, if they went that far, it would be huge. but back to reality, i think it's pretty likely we'll get the doma case today. the supreme court almost always steps in which states have found an act of congress unconstitutional. you've got several lower court decisions that have gone that way. so it seems pretty likely. and thomas, there's no set time here. we may know by, say, midafternoon. >> all right. nbc news's pete williams outside the supreme court, thank you. we check in now with chris geidner. he wor